Kitty's Demon
by Knightcrawler
Summary: Kitty the demon-slayer has a lot to do right now; she has to patrol every night, keeping the world safe from demons and the forces of darkness, she has been asked to help to train up a newly chosen demon-slayer, and she has to stop the apocalypse from happening; and then there is the mystery of the small blue demon that has somehow managed to become her sort of pet...
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note – Time for another AU story, this time with Kitty as a demon-slayer. Note that this is a different universe to the 917 universe of **_**The Demon of Bayville**_**, **_**The Foundling, **_**and **_**The Island of Legend**_**. Enjoy!**

Kitty's Demon

_Prologue - Against the Rules_

There was a long list of things that Kitty had never wanted to be. These included being chosen as a demon-slayer, finding out that she was a mutant, and having her best friend cheat on her with her boyfriend. However, currently, being attacked by six rather large demons, all at the same time, came top of her list. There had to be some sort of law against that, surely, after all, in all the old films, all of the enemy soldiers always attacked one by one, single file, waiting patiently for their fellows to be bested before taking their turn to attack the hero. It was an unwritten code, she was certain of it, as she spun around, hacking off two of the demon's heads with her rather large axe. They were never supposed to attack all at the same time; it just was not the done thing. Apart from anything else, it just was not polite. A dagger lodged itself in a third demon's chest, and the creature fell to the ground. Kitty grinned as the fourth demon fell down, a bolt from a crossbow, expertly shot by her Watcher, Austin, protruding out of the demon's back. This was more like it; two demons, two heroes. It was just a shame that Austin could not have arrived earlier, but Watchers had to spend as much time wading through books as they did wading through demon goo. The fifth demon was decapitated by Austin hacking it to pieces, and Kitty threw another dagger at the final demon, killing it instantly.

Austin removed his glasses, and began cleaning them, "Quite a busy night," he said, in what Kitty had come to regard as Watcher English, "I am sorry that I could not have arrived sooner."

Kitty merely sighed, "They're not supposed to attack all at once," she said, "in all the old films, they always attack one at a time, always. It's got to be a law or something."

"Quite," Austin replied, in the same Watcher English, this time laced with an undertone of sarcasm, "but I believe that it is a fact that, demons, being soulless monsters, are unconcerned with obeying the law."

Kitty sat down on the wet grass. Now that the rush of adrenaline from all of the fighting was beginning to subside, she was starting to feel tired and worn out, "Why do Watchers always have to be such smart know-it-all's about everything?" she mumbled.

Austin gave her a wry smile, "I believe that is a prerequisite to being in the position of Watcher," he said, "I think that Watchers are required to possess at least a small amount of intellectual capacity in order to avoid becoming demon food within the first week of taking up the position."

Kitty got to her feet suddenly, "Talking about demon food, how did we manage to miss big bad Blue over there?" she pointed to an eight foot high blue Cyclopes with bulging muscles and a furious expression, who was wielding a rather large axe in a decidedly menacing manner. Kitty did not know where the creature had come from; it seemed that it had just materialised out of nowhere, but that was hardly unusual for certain kinds of demons. Kitty tightened her grip on her own axe, and glared at the creature, a determined expression on her own face. Well, at least this one had had the courtesy to wait his turn, unlike those six other demons, but this one was certainly larger than the others, and seemed to be stronger and more powerful than all of the others put together.

She lunged at the Cyclops, wielding her axe, landing a direct hit on the torso. The creature merely looked down at where the axe had failed to even produce a slight dent in its blue skin. Then the creature reached down, grabbed her by the throat, and threw her, none too gently, against a tree. Kitty shook herself, feeling more annoyed than hurt; demon-slayers were tough, they had to be, or they did not last very long at all. But that did not mean that this creature would fail to present a challenge to even her abilities. She glared at the creature. Now she was not only tired, but angry, not to mention dirty. She looked around quickly, and glared at where Austin was examining the creature with what she had come to think of as Watcher Knowledge.

"I believe that our most recent companions is a Karikhian demon," he said, as the Cyclops turned towards him suddenly, and knocked him to the ground. Austin reached around himself for his glasses, which had fallen on the ground besides him.

"That's just great," Kitty growled sarcastically, "if ever I want to invite him to a party, I now know what to write on the invitation," she threw one of her daggers at the creature. It merely bounced off of his chest. The creature looked down, momentarily distracted by the dagger, but nevertheless unharmed by it. Kitty sighed in exasperation, "What I'd really like to know, though," she said, keeping her temper with more than a little difficulty, "is how exactly I am supposed to stop this thing."

"Ah yes, of course," said Austin, as he turned around and noticed that a much smaller blue demon had just emerged from the nearby bushes, "the only way to stop a Karikhian demon is by beheading."

"That's all I needed to know," Kitty took one huge swing of her axe, and moments later the creature's head was severed at the neck. Panting slightly due to the effort, she suddenly noticed the smaller blue demon, noticed that the creature seemed to have been preparing to attack Austin. However, the creature had apparently noticed how effectively she had managed to kill the larger demon, and so the smaller creature suddenly, to her astonishment, fell on its knees, staring at the severed head of the Karikhian demon in horror.

"Please don't kill me!" it begged, pulling at the bottom of Kitty's jeans, and looking up at her with pleading yellow eyes.

The creature was truly pathetic in comparison to the Karikhian demon, small and thin, covered in dirty and untidy matted blue fur, its hair covered in mud, and its spaded tail hanging limply behind it. Despite the fact that it had apparently just been preparing to harm her Watcher, Kitty could not help feeling rather sorry for the creature. Still, she reminded herself suddenly, it was nothing but a soulless demon, and so pulled away from it hurriedly, and then turned towards Austin.

"It's begging me to spare its life," she said, "that's got to be against the rules or something, hasn't it? They're not supposed to do that, are they?"

Austin adjusted his glasses, and stared down at the pathetic creature, a sceptical look in his grey eyes, "Indeed," he said, "however, as we discussed just moments before, demons do have a nasty tendency to ignore the rules."


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 1 – New Slayer, New Watcher_

"I shouldn't have to tell you this," began a rather pompous, essentially older version of Austin, "but demons do not make suitable pets. Especially not for demon-slayers," he added.

Austin wiped his glasses. Kitty watched him closely from across the table, and idly wondered if there had ever been a Watcher who did not wear glasses, and what he would do instead of touching them, when in a moment of deep thought and contemplation. She was interrupted from her vague musings by Austin's reply, "It begged for its life, two months ago when we caught it," Austin explained, pointing at the blue creature in the basket in the corner of the room. The creature was watching them all warily, its glowing yellow eyes uncertain. Austin gave the creature a very small, reassuring smile, before turning his attention back towards his companion, "Well, it seemed rather cruel to slaughter it given the circumstances, and we couldn't exactly let it go free to attack anyone else." Austin replaced his glasses, and sighed quietly, "So it seemed like the only option available to us, seemed that we would have to keep it where we could keep an eye on it. The collar around its neck will keep it from harming any living thing," he said.

The older version of Austin coughed meaningfully, "All that as may be correct, do remember that it still remains a soulless demon," he said, and took a sip of his Earl Grey tea, "and, I should not need to remind you, that means that the creature does still remain dangerous. That means, in plain English, that it cannot be trusted."

"Quite," said Austin, "hence the collar, hence why he is kept here, where we are able to keep an eye on him. Besides, as demons go, he's pretty harmless." He turned to the blue creature, and beckoned him to come closer, "Nightcrawler," he said, "come here and pour Mister Windsor-Smyth a glass of wine, please."

The creature nodded once, "Yes sir," he said. He kept his yellow eyes lowered as he walked over to the table. His entire manner was completely submissive, as he poured some wine from a glass decanter into a cut crystal wine glass. Kitty watched him carefully as he finished his task, and then as he bowed slightly to the older version of Austin – Mister Windsor-Smyth – so that was his name; she had been trying to remember it all evening. She smiled to herself. Mister Windsor-Smyth; it suited him, she decided, as he seemed to be the very essence of pompous arrogance. Compared to him, Austin suddenly did not seem too bad.

"Will that be all, Sir?" the blue creature asked, setting the decanter down upon a silver tray.

Mister Windsor-Smyth examined him for a long moment, looking him up and down; it was obvious that he did not like what he saw. "Yes, demon," he said after a long pause, "for now. Go back to your basket."

The creature bowed slightly, and returned to the indicated basket. He watched the others cautiously, as Mister Windsor-Smyth pointed towards him, "You call that think Nightcrawler?" he asked.

"Yes," said Kitty, just a little bit defiantly. Austin had earlier advised her to keep quiet during this meeting, to only speak when spoken to, and to avoid confrontation if at all possible. She had initially felt more than a little irritated at these instructions, but had reluctantly agreed that Austin had more experience and expertise in this area, and so it was acceptable for him to do most of the talking. Now she realised that Austin had actually been correct. Austin did not seem to like this pompous arrogant fool any more than she did, but Austin had the admirable ability to display his dislike in a subtle manner, rather than overtly. Kitty knew that she would not have been able to have been so tactful in his place. Still, she did not want to remain silent any longer, "he has a nasty habit of crawling all over my bedroom wall during the night. So I called him Nightcrawler. And it just seemed to stick."

"I like it," this came from a quiet voice at the other end of the table, "and I think he's rather cute," the girl who had spoken was called Amanda, and Kitty really wanted to hate her. She had long, perfect brown hair, while Kitty's own hair was rather limp and lifeless. She had a healthy, coffee-coloured skin, whereas Kitty was, in her own opinion, far too pale. Amanda had a full figure with ample breasts, whereas Kitty had a rather small, unimpressive figure. Amanda was Mister Windsor-Smyth's niece, and had recently been chosen as a demon-slayer. That was why she had been brought here, to train under the guidance of a more experienced demon-slayer, Kitty herself. Had Amanda been a book or television character, Kitty mused bitterly, she would have surely been a complete jerk, for she was popular and smart; yet she was, in actual fact, one of the sweetest, nicest people Kitty had ever met. It was not fair.

"You let that thing sleep in your bedroom?" Mister Windsor-Smyth asked in disgust, still staring at Nightcrawler.

"Yes," said Kitty again, and then added defiantly, "you said we should all keep an eye on him at all times, so we do. That means keeping him close even when we sleep."

"I like him," said Amanda, going over to stroke the Nightcrawler's blue fur. He flinched slightly as she came close to him, but started purring when she began to gently stroke him. Amanda laughed, "He's got really soft fur, it feels like velvet," she said, "I don't think that anything that looks and feels like this can be truly bad," she added.

"You should have seen him a couple of months ago," said Kitty, grinning as she watched Amanda giving Nightcrawler a tummy rub, while Mister Windsor-Smyth frowned at them both disapprovingly. Kitty pointed to Nightcrawler, and winked at Amanda, "That fur was as mangy and dirty as anything. He was a lot thinner then, and he wanted to attack Austin. Fortunately, he seems to have calmed down a lot."

Amanda examined Nightcrawler critically, "He doesn't seem dangerous to me," she said after a while, "Perhaps he was just scared, and so lashed out. I have a pet rat called Justin, and most of the time he's the friendliest creature you could imagine, but he might bite or scratch if I scare him, such as when I accidentally make a loud noise. Perhaps Nightcrawler is pretty much the same."

"Amanda," said Austin, predictably cleaning his glasses again, "though it is quite likely that he was scared, the fact still remains that he is potentially a danger. The only thing which is preventing him from attacking you right now is the collar around him neck. Believe me, I have been very nearly on the receiving end of one of his attacks, and I therefore know what I am talking about.

"This collar?" asked Amanda, examining the white and red plastic that covered the Nightcrawler's throat, "this is what prevents him from being able to harm anyone?"

Kitty walked over to her, "Yes," she said, "and he can't take it off," she pointed towards the collar, "there are groves along it, can you see them?" she pointed to the small grooves along the collar meaningfully, "you need to have normal hands, with ten digits, in order that they fit in these grooves, and so that you can undo the collar. The Nightcrawler has only two fingers on each hand, and one thumb, so he can't get it off without our help."

"What bothers me," said Mister Windsor-Smyth "is why you would want to remove the collar at all. Why not just leave it on him all the time, if you absolutely must keep the creature here, that is, if you are so convinced that this will ensure that the creature is harmless?"

Austin sighed, "It is intricate technology," he explained, "which essentially means that there is always a chance that something might go wrong. If it does, then we will need to correct it. That will almost certainly mean removing the collar in order to do this. Also, there are more practical considerations; he needs to clean his neck sometimes. Do not worry; Kitty is a demon-slayer, as is Amanda, now. Nightcrawler is not stupid; he knows that it would be very unwise to make an aggressive move right now, with two demon-slayers ready to defend themselves if necessary, regardless of his collar."

Mister Windsor-Smyth bristled, "Well, in my day we killed demons, we did not adopt them as our pets," he said, glaring over at where Amanda was still examining the collar, "but that is not the main reason why I am here now." He turned his attention back to Austin, "As you have probably guessed, there is a more serious reason for my current visit," he said.

"Let me guess," said Kitty, with a sigh, "we have to stop the Apocalypse again, lots of demons are going to be rising from some horrible dimension, and sending all of humanity to that dimension, unless we work to stop it in the next couple of weeks. Am I right?"

Amanda gave her an astonished look, "How did you know?" she asked.

Kitty gave her a wry smile, "Third time this year, Amanda," she said, "After you've been a demon-slayer as long as I have, you get to notice a pattern."


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 2 – Hidden Secrets_

Kitty sunk deeper into the pleasant warmth of her bathwater. It had been a stressful afternoon, she reflected absently, as she watched a soap bubble burst. Several hours earlier, demons had suddenly jumped out from the bushes, attacking her and Amanda. They had also tried to attack the Nightcrawler, except, and she grinned at the thought, he had been too quick for them. He had vanished up into the branches of the nearest tree, and had started throwing pine cones down on their attackers. But the Nightcrawler could not actually physically harm anyone, at least not while he was wearing that stupid collar of his, so that meant that Amanda and Kitty herself had to be the warriors, the defenders of humanity, and all those other impressive things that Austin never seemed to tire of reminding her about; duty and responsibility and the like.

The attacking demons had been tough, but, to her credit, Amanda had managed admirably for someone with limited experience and training, and, like Kitty herself, had only received minor cuts and bruises. Even the Nightcrawler had been able to help them fight; he had leapt down in front of the demons, appearing suddenly and startling them, providing the invaluable distraction that had enabled Amanda and Kitty to kill the demons. Unfortunately, these had not been the neat, clean sort of demons that vanished in a puff of smoke when killed. Of course not, these had to by the type that changed into slime and gunk, and had probably completely ruined Kitty's best jeans by exploding too close to her. Well, she had an apocalypse to worry about; there was little point in worrying about the passing away of blue denim. Besides, she might yet be able to persuade Austin to fund a shopping trip with Amanda, considering that the demons had probably also ruined Amanda's previously rather attractive red skirt. But that was for later. Right now, the comfort and warmth of the bath was easing the stress from Kitty's tired muscles.

After the attack, the three of them had gone to Amanda's house, simply because it was closer, and they really wanted to get the slime off of themselves. Kitty had patiently waited until Amanda and the Nightcrawler had finished bathing, before having her own bath, but it was not as if this was an entirely altruistic act. She wanted to stay in the warm water for as long as possible, and that was far easier to get away with if someone else was not waiting patiently for their turn. Still, it was not as if she could stay in there forever, however much she might wish to be able to do so right now; she had to prepare for their meeting with the Luthi later, especially as she was the only one of the three of them who had met with them before, and so both Amanda and the Nightcrawler would be looking to her for information and advice.

With a sigh, Kitty got out of the bath, dried herself absently, and put a very fluffy pink towel around her body. She then made her way across the hall, and knocked on the door to Amanda's bedroom. "Come in," came the slightly muffled voice from within. Kitty opened the door, and then grinned at what she saw.

Amanda was sitting at her computer, and seemed to be playing some kind of game. Kneeling by the side of her, looking almost feline, the Nightcrawler would occasionally look up at her, or stare at the computer screen in slight confusion. Amanda would occasionally reach down and pat his head, or stroke his fur; and the Nightcrawler would purr in response, making him seem even more cat-like. On Amanda's left shoulder, there was a small, white rat. Amanda would also pet the rat every once in a while, or feed it a piece of raw carrot or some pasta. In a really odd way, the scene seemed almost homely, and strangely comforting. Kitty could not imagine anyone else ever looking so comfortable in the company of a rat and a demon.

Amanda turned around to face her, "I've got some spare clothes that you can have, but I'm not sure if they will fit you or not," she said, and pointed towards a pair of black jeans and a blue top on her bed. Kitty went over and examined the clothes, smiling when it was clear that they were the right size.

"I'll give them back to you later," she said.

Amanda shook her head, "No need, I have plenty," she said, "anyway, Justin always likes to nibble at the collars," she pointed towards the rat on her shoulder. "This is Justin," she said.

"Don't you mind having a rat climb all over you?" Kitty asked, approaching warily.

Amanda shook her head again, "It's okay, he's tame, and very clean," she said, "in fact, rats are just about the perfect pet for anyone who can't have anything bigger like a dog or a cat. He's very smart," with that, she picked the creature up, and handed him towards Kitty, who took him nervously.

Kitty had never really minded most animals. She could cope with spiders quite easily, and was happy to watch frogs and grass snakes, as long as they did not touch her. She also quite liked mice, and most other mammals, but she had never really liked rats. Perhaps it was because she remembered reading a book, when she was very small, where the rat king had been the villain, and the nightmarish picture had in a sense stayed with her, even though she knew that it was only a story. So she did not feel entirely comfortable when handling Justine, even though he was surprisingly cute and cuddly, when she came to actually look at him closely. She was glad when Amanda took him back, and put him on the computer table in front of her. "He can do tricks," she said proudly, and picked up a pencil. Holding it horizontally, about six inches above the table, she addressed the rat, "Justin, backflip!" she said, a clear command that the rat only seemed too willing to obey. He did a backflip over the pencil, a miniature rodent gymnast performing for his beloved mistress. He was rewarded with another piece of raw carrot, which he nibbled enthusiastically.

"I can do that too. Can I have a piece of carrot as well?"

Surprised, both Amanda and Kitty turned to the Nightcrawler, who had suddenly started to perform backflips. He had the grace and agility of a trained acrobat, a fluidity of motion that seemed almost poetic. Only Justin the rat did not seem to be impressed that someone else had, for once, stolen his audience.

"That's amazing," said Amanda, "I didn't know that you could do that."

"Neither did I," said Kitty, surprised to find herself feeling oddly jealous that he had never performed for her like that, "where did you learn to do that?"

The Nightcrawler suddenly seemed very shy, met by two intense gazes (Justin was looking away in disgust that Amanda was so impressed with this silly blue newcomer).

The Nightcrawler swallowed, "A long time ago," he began, "in Bavaria, long before I came to America. There was a circus, and they taught me to do tricks. And I performed in the circus, did things like this. And I was happy, for a time."

Kitty and Amanda exchanged worried glances. Kitty suddenly felt slightly guilty that she had never asked the Nightcrawler about his past. Amanda gave a little laugh, lightening the mood somewhat, "Well, you've earned a carrot stick, that's for sure," she said, and then pointed to Justin, "but I think you have also earned an enemy, Justin is not used to anyone else stealing his thunder." She threw the Nightcrawler a couple of carrot sticks, which he caught with his tail. Justin gave him a quick, unimpressed look, and then looked away in disgust once more.

"What about the circus?" Kitty asked, "What happened there?"

The Nightcrawler sighed, "I was happy, for a time," he repeated, looking down. "Then something happened, but I was too young to understand what, exactly. The circus was brought by someone else, and then I was shipped to America, and kept in a cage all the time. I was there for a very long time. Then someone let me out, but I don't know why. That's when you found me."

"What exactly happened then?" Amanda asked, picking up Justin and feeding him an extra large piece of pasta, to make up for not giving him the desired amount of awe and attention for his talents.

The Nightcrawler looked down. "I wasn't sure," he admitted, "someone had let me out of the cage, and I was free, but I didn't know why, or what I was supposed to do now. Then I, I couldn't really control myself. It was as if I was a puppet, and someone else was pulling my strings, I was not in control of what I was doing, it was as if someone else was making me do things, but I was not making myself do them. I could only watch, as this something else seemed to want me to attack your Watcher," he nodded towards Kitty. "Then suddenly I was in control again, but terrified, I had seen what you had done to those creatures, and I thought that you would do the same to me, unless I begged for mercy. So I did," he finished.

Amanda went over and stroked his head, "Why didn't you tell us sooner?" she asked.

"You would have believed me?" he asked in reply.

Kitty felt guilty, but remembered what Austin had said, "Careful Amanda, don't forget that he is a demon," she said meaningfully.

Amanda looked at the Nightcrawler carefully, as if trying to decide, "I would not be surprised if he is part human," she said, "I'm sure that nothing like this can be truly bad."

Kitty shook her head, "It doesn't work like that," she said quietly, beginning to doubt her own words, "demons are demons, and that's just the way it is. Some do use human flesh to reanimate themselves, but it's like zombies or, or they're using a human corpse as a sort of meat puppet. The human that was once there, just isn't there anymore. I'm sorry."

"What about these Luthi you were telling me about earlier?" Amanda countered, "Aren't they technically part demon and part human?" she asked.

Once more, Kitty began to doubt everything she had been told about demons, "I think they're a special case," she said, sounding suddenly rather uncertain. "I'm not sure that they're really demons or human, but something else entirely. Anyway, they know stuff, and that's why we want to meet with them, to get information."

"What are the Luthi?" asked the Nightcrawler, as he approached Justin and tried to stroke him, only for the little rat to look away in disgust.

Kitty sighed, "No one seems to know for sure, and they're not exactly forthcoming with information about themselves," she remembered the last time that she was in their presence, the feelings of inferiority that came over her, that came over anyone when in one of the Luthi's presence. No one seemed to know if they did this on purpose, or if it was just a natural part of their glamour. They were very secretive about this themselves, and rarely gave a straight answer to any question. Still, they did technically owe Kitty a favour for the last time that she had stopped the apocalypse, so it was quite possible that they would provide her with useful information, even if she would have to entangle it from their enigmatic words.

"They are possible allies, although only a fool would trust them entirely," she said carefully, "we once thought that they were demons, but we have a sort of a truce or understanding now. They feed off of human blood," she explained quietly, "and there have been cases where people have been found drained, but not recently. It can be quite a euphoric feeling, having a Luthi feed upon you, or so I've heard, so people go willingly to them, and the danger is all part of the euphoria," she shrugged, "like getting on a rollercoaster, I guess. You know that there is a very small chance that something bad will happen, but that just adds to the excitement involved. Still, as long as they are only feeding on consenting adults, and only taking as much blood as these adults are willing to give, Austin has said that it's best if we more or less turn a blind eye to them, concentrate on more obvious evil, because, let's face it, there's enough of that about right now."

"What do they look like?" Amanda asked.

"Good question," Kitty replied, "no-one knows for sure, it's all part of the glamour. They always look beautiful, but it is filtered through their glamour, so you see them as idealised creatures. That's one of the reasons why people like to have them feed on them, I guess."

"I wonder what a rat would see, if he were to look at one of these Luthi?" said Amanda, picking up Justin and feeding him another piece of raw carrot, "Justin, what do you think about these Luthi?" she asked playfully.

Kitty laughed, "He might be very smart for a rat, but I don't think he's going to answer you," she said.

Amanda laughed nervously and ever so slightly awkwardly, then lowered her voice, as though divulging a deep secret, "That's not entirely true," she said.

Kitty gave her a sceptical look, "What do you mean?" she asked.

"If I tell you, do you promise not to tell anyone else?" Amanda asked.

Kitty gave her a small smile, and nodded her head, "I promise," she said, suddenly very curious.

Amanda swallowed, "Sometimes I can understand what animals say," she said.

Kitty looked at her for a moment longer, but it was clear that she was not joking, "Are you a mutant?" she asked, after a very long pause.

"I don't know what that is," Amanda admitted, "but the females of my family have always been witches. We can hear things that other people can't, and sometimes see things that other people can't see. Most of the time, we keep quiet about it. I don't think my uncle would exactly approve," she added.

Kitty nodded, thinking that Mister Windsor-Smyth probably didn't approve of anything very much, especially anything to do with female empowerment. Still, she was curious about Amanda's ability, "What do animals actually say?" she asked.

"Well, it's not as if they actually really talk very much, not what we would think of as talking, anyway," Amanda admitted, "but they can make their opinions quite clear with body language and intonation, things like that. And when they do talk, it's mostly telling anything that is a potential threat to stay away, and anything that is a potential food source, or a mate, to come forward. Generally speaking, animals have quite simple desires."

Kitty nodded thoughtfully, "And Justin talks to you?" she asked quietly.

Amanda nodded, "Sort of," she said, "it's more thoughts, the desire for food, for affection, for water, that sort of thing. He also likes watching the light show whenever I die on this computer game," she added.

"I'm dying to entertain my pet," muttered Kitty, "what is that game, anyway?"

Amanda grinned, "Oh, its great fun," she said, it's called _Emperors and Conquerors_, and the idea is that you have to take over the world."

Kitty gave her a sceptical look, as she leaned over and examined the computer, "Then why are you making peace contracts with those little islanders over there?" she asked.

"That's the clever bit," Amanda explained, "You get extra points for every year of world peace. So the trick is to kill off most of the factions, and only leave a small island kingdom standing, so you can trade with them, then annihilate them when you only have two or three more years left on your time clock."

"I'm glad you are not in charge of ruling the world," said Kitty sarcastically.

Amanda merely laughed, "It's all about strategy and planning ahead," she said, "just like you have to do when killing demons."

"Well, not quite like that," Kitty said, "I mean, for one thing, we have to save the world, not enslave and destroy it."

Amanda shrugged, "Details," she said, "it's all about planning, strategy, considering your next move. She pointed at a small green pixilated tank, "like this piece, for instance. It has limited fire power and defence, but use it carefully, and it can be the most valuable piece on the board. It's called a Trickster, and what it does is, it changes the factions of the other pieces, temporarily, to your side. So you can have them all fighting amongst themselves, while you just pull the strings from the background. It's quite a good strategy for winning, at least on the lower levels."

"And this is how you relax, is it?" Kitty asked sceptically, "By planning how to mind control pieces so that they will fight each other?"

Amanda nodded, "You did advise me to get some rest before we meet with these Luthi later," she reminded her, "and this is how I go about doing that."

"Fair enough," replied Kitty, "but I think I'll stick with hot baths, if it's all the same to you. I have enough trouble fighting real foes, without worrying about fighting virtual ones as well."


End file.
